Arriving a day early, GAMEVIL pushed the international release of its new game titled Elune Saga. What makes this “hybrid strategy RPG” somewhat unique from the rest of the bunch is in how it meshes together two popular mobile gaming genres. While you do follow a fixed plot and build up your motley crew of adventurers, battles aren’t boring since elements of collectible card games inject a bit of strategic thinking into the mix.
In terms of overall mechanics and plot, Elune Saga doesn’t stray far from the sometimes overused tropes of mobile games. The story and plot points are laid out in piecemeal pieces, where each point serves to unlock the next. Everything is point and click, so those already familiar with how mobile games work need not feel out of place. Building up your army of characters plus building up your own “deck” of cards (souls) is pretty much the same as any other, which means using up some resource (which you can buy in-game) and “fusing” them together to upgrade.
The real meat of Elune Saga, however, is in the combat mechanics. Battles are turn-based so you can give your fingers a bit of a rest. However, the game does require a bit of brain over brawn, as a number of combinations can spell either victory or defeat. First, there are the cards, the souls that you can collect to embue your characters with more power. And depending on where you place them or how you combine them, you can end up with different powers. The game claims to have 200 cards/souls ready for the taking and for mixing and matching. Then there are the four elements of fire, earth, wind, and water, with each element having a weakness against another, which adds to the required strategic thinking for each battle.
Graphics-wise, Elune Saga isn’t completely high-end, but it won’t bury you in pixel art either. It’s just good enough to keep your eyes from hurting, with some bits and pieces of JRPG-style dialogs and portraits. Elune Saga is free to grab on Google Play Store, but if you haven’t figured it out yet, it comes with a ton of in-app purchases.
Download: Elune Saga
